After Beaumarchais’s The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro
Directed by Kokan Mladenović, guest
Dramaturge: Kata Gyarmati
Set design: Marija Kalabić, guest
Costume design: Marina Sremac, guest
Composer (original music): Irena Popović, guest
Stage movement: Andreja Kulešević, guest
Music associate, accompanist: Dávid Klemm
Lights: Róbert Majoros
Sound: Tibor Bíró
Make-up: Ágnes Pászti
Stage manager: Alekszadra Bíró
Prompter: Csilla Lovas
Photo: Csaba Mikus
Cast:
PART 1
Count Almaviva, in love with Rosina – Eduárd Szabó
Bartolo, doctor, Rosina’s guardian – Zoltán Sirmer
Rosina, Bartolo’s protégé, later to become Countess – Emina Elor
Figaro, barber – Áron Balázs
Don Basilio, singing teacher – Pongó Gábor
Chérubin d’amore – Kőrösi Istaván
Servants, soldiers, chorus: Ágota Szilágyi, Lívia Banka, Attila Giricz, Gabriella Crnković, Tamás Hajdú, Dániel Huszta, Dániel Gombos, Attila Német, Judit László, Emese Nagyabonyi, Tímea Lőrinc, Arnold Papp
PART 2
Figaro, barber - Áron Balázs
Susanne, servant, Figaro’s fiancé - Ágota Szilágyi
Count Almaviva - Eduárd Szabó
Countess Rosina - Emina Elor
Marceline, servant - Lívia Banka
Don Bartolo, intriguer - Zoltán Sirmer
Don Basilio, intriguer - Gábor Pongó
Chérubin d’amore – István Kőrösi
Don Curzio, judge – Attila Giricz
Fankete – Gabriella Crnković
Servants, soldiers, people: Tamás Hajdú, Dániel Huszta, Dániel Gombos, Attila Német, Judit László, Emese Nagyabonyi, Tímea Lőrinc, Arnold Papp
The production of the play was supported by the City Administration for Culture of the City of Novi Sad.
Running time: 135 minutes with an intermission
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“All great works of classical art contain universal truths which make them timeless and the success of our joint productions – Orange Peel and The Tragedy of Men encouraged me to go a step further with the ensemble of the Novi Sad Theatre – to use two great Beaumarchais’s comedies, translated into successful operas by Mozart and Rossini, to tell a story of the ‘mission impossible’ of making an opera production with a dramatic ensemble, all under an ultimatum of local authorities, as well as a story of the ‘mission impossible’ of engaging in any form of culture in this devastated and increasingly non-cultural country.
Beaumarchais’s The Marriage of Figaro with its lucid social analysis, wisdom and skill, managed to outwit its master. The revolutionary spirit of The Marriage of Figaro greatly contributed to the French Revolution and wrote a dedication to the freedom of spirit and speech. Dealing with these plays, we re-examine once again the sad situation of a servant and attempt to outwit some new masters of today, more arrogant and uncultivated than those of Figaro’s time.”
Kokan Mladenović, director
The Novi Sad Theatre- Újvidéki Színház was founded in 1974 with the aim of facilitating preservation of the cultural identity of Hungarians in Vojvodina. Its address at 3-5 Jovana Subotića Street soon became a place where much more serious and complex theatrical stories started developing... In time, this theatre has managed to become more than just a gathering place of the Hungarian elite - it has stepped out of the Hungarian framework and today it is considered to be one of the most relevant theatrical addresses in Serbia and the region.
During the 1990s, which were everything but cheerful, the ensemble gained prominence by it unusual theatrical poetics which suggested some completely new and different theatrical contours. Its diverse repertoire – between experiment and staging of classical pieces of Hungarian and world literature – provided opportunities for best directors to come to the Novi Sad Theatre. Each and every one of them praises the compactness of the ensemble. All directors underline hard work, diligence and dedication of the actors and actresses and it seems that it was this – all for one and one for all – musketeers’ doctrine that took the Novi Sad Theatre to all the domestic and a series of regional festivals: from Sterijino pozorje and Bitef, to the festivals in Umag and Sarajevo. The ensemble has returned with one of the prizes from almost all of them.
The Novi Sad Theatre is an institution of special importance for the National Council of the Hungarian Minority.